Breakdown of Hay que quitarse los zapatos junto al tatami, el cual es suave.
ser
to be
los
the (masculine plural)
el zapato
the shoe
junto a
next to
hay que
(with que) one has to / must
suave
soft
el cual
which / who (masculine singular)
quitarse
to take off (clothing)
el tatami
mat
Questions & Answers about Hay que quitarse los zapatos junto al tatami, el cual es suave.
Why use el cual here instead of just que?
The phrase , el cual es suave is a non-defining relative clause (a phrase set off by commas that adds extra information but isn't strictly necessary). In these clauses, el cual is used as a slightly more formal alternative to que. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces, which in this case is the masculine singular tatami.
Why do we say los zapatos instead of a possessive like sus zapatos?
In Spanish, you generally use definite articles (el, la, los, las) rather than possessive adjectives for clothing and body parts when the owner is already obvious. Because the reflexive verb quitarse (to take off oneself) establishes who is doing the action to whom, the shoes' owner is already clear.
Why is the pronoun se attached to the end of quitar?
The verb quitar means "to remove," but taking off your own clothing requires the reflexive form, quitarse. Because it directly follows the impersonal expression hay que ("one must"), the verb stays in its infinitive form and we attach the impersonal reflexive pronoun se directly to the end of it.
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